Game Mechanics

This page is intended for a more technical discussion of the game mechanics. For instance, equations governing combat, how STA translates into HP, how the con color system scales with level. It is important that this information applies to p1999 mechanics, as opposed to Live mechanics, post-Velious mechanics, or EQEmu mechanics. Each topic can have a list of reference links which may or may not apply. There should be consensus that the information is valid for p1999 before it is copied into this page.

Miscellaneous Details for p1999

These are verified to be true on Project 1999. These are largely changes that were announced during patches.

If a mob is moving (not including a result of fear or flee) when the damage from a dot is applied, it will take 66% of the damage that it would have normally taken.

All classes that can exceed 200 Bind Wound can bind to 70%.

Can only assassinate humanoid targets.

Monk AC weight penalty starts at 14 and scales up at certain levels. More details here

The /target command can target mobs, players, or corpses as long as they are "within range."

Bash damage absorbed by a rune, can still stun you.

PvP Attacks do not require the attacker to be facing their target.

Rogue hide will function the same as invis + IVU stacked, while providing protection from nearly the entirety of mobs that would otherwise see through magical invisibility.

Non-rogue (racial hide) will only function the same as magical invisibility.

Mobs that see through invis/IVU will similarly see through racial hide, but not rogue hide except in extremely rare cases including but not limited to Fire Giants in SolB and Chokidai in Chardok.

One 24 hour period of game time lasts 72 minutes in real time.

Night time starts and ends at certain hours and varies from zone to zone. The most common night time cycle is 9pm - 7am.

NPC Behavior:

Level 56+ NPCs are immune to stuns.

NPCs level 50 and above can be taunted. (Blue only)

Blinded mobs will attack anything in melee range before fleeing.

NPCs have the potential to gate starting at 20% of their health.

NPC's will regain 25% HP after gating.

NPC perma procs can't proc unless damage is done to the player.

Vox and Nagafen will banish players over level 52.

Mob AE's hitting a Feign Death player does break FD and will add player to aggro list. (March 2013 Patch)

Mobs do not immediately aggro players within 3 seconds of spawning, and they are immune to any non-targetted spells (PB AEs or Targetted AEs they aren't the target of) in that time.

Any spells cast by NPCs on PCs will break FD, regardless of resist. Except dispells.

Being perceived as invisible (whether that be from invis/sneak/hide) when standing from FD does not remove you from NPC feign memory.

Added the distinction between direct and indirect hate: Mobs with indirect hate (obtained by another mob yelling for help) on a target cannot yell for help to transfer hate for their target to another NPC. The only way to prevent the transfer of direct hate to another nearby NPC is to be sneaking in the proper area of that NPC's visibility. Invis/IVU/Hide etc. no longer have any impact on whether direct aggro will be transferred.

Some mobs now have the ability to scan the surrounding area for new targets while already engaged.

Most high end raid targets will announce to nearby players which player was first to engage. This should help when multiple guilds engage simultaneously.

(all) npcs can innately proc on attacks. This isn't limited to kick and bash. Theoretically, they can proc innates on contact hits.

NPCs who cannot see you, will not respond to /say.

Completing quests with an NPC who is charmed, will no longer trigger faction changes associated with that quest/npc.

Aggro checks on mobs that are engaged, will not ignore players that are sitting. Sitting will add you to their hate list.

PvP Details for p1999

(Strikethrough = Seems to no longer be true (dumb change, but no longer true)

These changes were made with red99 in mind, although some may apply to general PvP combat on p99 as well.

Archery will not work over water

PvP Spell Damage was reduced from 80% to 66%.

10% chance for direct damage spells to land for full until the chance to resist the spell is <=10%

5% chance to land any spell

No heart beat ticks with Root in PvP.

No Partials from Root and Snare (such as snared for 2 seconds, then break)

Resist rates on Root and Snares are increased in PvP.

There is a chance to break root from melee. The chance for root to break is equal to 20% of the damage dealt.

Players can water dance / hop to avoid getting hit by detrimental spells in PvP.

OOR dispelling is disabled.

Lifetap over time spells properly display on the target's buff bar.

Mitigation disciplines reduce both incoming PvE and PvP damage.

Mesmerization spells bypass the level checks when used in PvP. Note: Players will not be mesmerized by their own AoEs if they are above the level cap (temporary note, due to technical aspects).

Damage shields do full damage in PvP.

Level 50+ rangers will get the same bonus against non-moving, non-rooted players as they do against NPCs.

A maximum stun duration exists. The values on this are still being tuned.

Pet cast spells have the same resist modifications as player cast spells.

Pets, when charmed, will be instantly poofed.

Rogue blinds last a quarter of their PvE duration, but will have their partials skewed higher.

The maximum resist chance has been set to 98%, up from 95%.

Linkdead players who are engaged in PvP combat will not poof after 30 seconds.

A number of spells are unresistible, such as Rapture, the Winged Death line, the Lifetap line, and Splurt, although Winged Death line of spells, as well as Breath of Ro fire-based DoTs, are currently bugged and SHOULD have a -10 and -100 resist check, respectively.

Root spells have linear resist functions, and are broken into 3 tiers with 98% resist caps at 60mr, 90mr, and 125mr.

They will face an AC penalty for exceeding a weight of 14.9 before level 15, 15.9 for levels 15-29, 16.9 for levels 30-44, 17.9 for levels 45-50, 18.9 for levels 51-54, 20.9 for levels 55-59, and 24.9 at level 60.

Corpse Decay Time

A player corpse resulting from a normal death will decay exactly 7 days after it was created, regardless of the player's level and if he or she is online or offline during that time.

A normal player corpse can be resurrected only within the first 3 hours after death. This timer only ticks if the player (or any player on that same account) is online.

A player corpse resulting from a duel can only be resurrected within the first 8 minutes (or 7?) after death.

A normal NPC corpse with items on it will decay after seven minutes.

The corpse of an NPC level 55 or higher will not decay until 30 minutes after death.

Note: The numerical values for changing between different con levels has always been debated (e.g. scowling is -1000 or below). These values on p1999 are likely the same as for stock EQEmu but this is unconfirmed. The following information is based off early experiments and direct data from live. Similar to experience numbers, in the very early days of live the direct faction numbers were sent to the client.

Note: The amount of numerical faction raised/lowered for killing any specific mob or completing any specific quest is unknown on p1999. Many of these values are likely similar to stock EQEmu, but significant adjustments have certainly been made.

1. Faction in Everquest

The faction system is the relation ship between YOU, the player character, and the AI controlled creatures of Norrath.

The word faction has two common meanings:

Faction: noun. An associated group of NPCs, Identified by thier faction number and a faction description. An example of this would 'Faction 232', or 'ClawsofVeeshan'.

Faction: noun. The relative relationship between you and any given creature as given by the /con command in game. An example of this would be 'Lord Nagafen scowls at you, ready to attack'.

For the sake of clarity, I will use CONSIDER whenever I mean faction(2) and FACTION whenever I mean faction(1) in this document.

Important things to realize about faction:

Each AI controlled creature belongs to one and only one faction.

The consider changes that occur when you kill a creature or do a quest have NOTHING to do with the faction of the creature killed or the quest giver. While often they are often similar, that similarity is simply a statement of consistency in Verant's world.

2. How Consider Works

When you /con a creature, the Everquest server generates a number that is your relative ranking of like and dislike from that creature's faction. This number is composed of:

A modifier for your god

A modifier for your race

A modifier for your class

A modifier for your own faction changing efforts

A modifier that is spell based

A modifier that is NPC specific

A zone modifier

The sum of these modifiers is your consider number. What is output by the client is one of nine messages, depending on the consider number (unconfirmed numbers on p99):

Below -801, scowls at you, ready to attack

-800 to -701, glares at you threateningly

-700 to -501, glowers at you dubiously

-500 to -101, is apprehensive

-100 to 99, is indifferent

100 to 499, is amiable

500 to 699, kindly considers you

700 to 1099, looks upon you warmly

1100 and up, regards you as an ally

All player characters on blue servers have a base consider of 0.

Consider USED to be capped at +2000 and -2000. It was changed at some point to handle larger values. There MAY still be specific caps associated with certain factions, but I have not found any current evidence that this is true.

How do the modifers work?

The GOD modifer is fixed for each faction. Worshipers of each god have fixed plus or minus consider for each faction.

The RACE modifier is fixed for each faction. Each race has a fixed plus or minus consider for each faction.

The CLASS is fixed for each faction. Each CLASS has a fixed plus or minus for each faction.

The PERSONAL modifier is set at your character creation for each faction, and is changed as a result of your in-game actions. For example, if I do the Kerran Key quest in qeynos I get about +30 to my personal Steel Warrior consider.

The SPELL based modifier raises the consider number a set amount per spell. For example, Collaboration adds 300. Note: Some equipped items have worn spell effects that modify faction.

The NPC modifer overrides other considerations. For example, Gypsies have a set faction based on RACE and CLASS, and GOD that cannot be changed by spells.

The ZONE modifier is a set amount that is added to certain personal consider values upon entering a zone. In almost all cases, the ZM is zero. This information on ZM is based on two bits of sketchy information. First, a vague statement from Verant that a consider ZM causes the 'You swipe at a %t. A %t dies' messages that appear when you zone. Second, one example, that of the Kromrif, who are on the same faction, yet con exactly 100 different for me in two different zones.

Here are a few examples:

I have a personal modifer of 2697 with WolvesoftheNorth. Since I am a dark elf, I lose 200, since I worship Innoruuk I lose 300, but since I am an enchanter I gain 100. My total faction is 2697-200-300+100, or 2297, making me an ally.

Troll Shadowknights who worship Cazic Thule that have maximum positive faction with Frogloks of Guk are still glowered at dubiously by frogloks

3. The effect of Spells on Consider

(a) Invisible, camoflauge, sneak, hide, and invisible to undead set your consider to 0 for NPCs who don't see through them.

(b) The faction-changing enchanter spells have these effects:

Alliance: +100 consider

Benevolence: +200 consider

Collaboration: +300 consider

Only one instance of these spells can be alive at any time, and all three spells overwrite each other.

(c) Illusions affect your faction as if you actually changed to the race of the illusion. Not all NPCs have the same faction towards a given race, so take care. Here is an example of two barbarian NPCS with different faction in the same zone:

Me

Maula FishCatcher

Maula's fisherman buddy

Human

1487

1307

Werewolf

1387

807

Dark Elf

787

707

Troll

1287

1207

Ogre

987

1207

(4) Where do consider changes come from?

(a) Killing creatures. Usually killing a creature produces one or more +considers and one or more -considers. The amount gotten from killing varies, and I have seen values from +1 to +250 and -1 to -200. Typical kill values are +/- 1 to 5.

(b) Doing quests. Each quest step usually changes consider values for several factions. Typical numbers are +/-1 and +/-5. A few quests produce consider changes in the +/- hundreds.

(c) Specials. Some special game items and actions (like hailing Tazgar the Efreeti in The Temple of Solusek Ro) can change consider. I don't have any large list of these, and would be happy to learn about them.

(5) Various topics

(a) Monsters who do not see you because you are behind them, etc, simply don't see you. Your consider remains the same.

(b) Charisma has no effect on consider.

(c) Factions cross continents, zone, etc. RingofScale in Permafrost is the same as RingOfScale in Kunark.

(d) Factions are not interrelated. Losing consider with ServantsofMistmoore does not change my MayongMistmoore consider.

Consider Color Scalings with Level

Character Levels 1 - 6

-4 and below GREEN - looks like a reasonably safe opponent
-1 to -3 BLUE - looks like you would have the upper hand
0 WHITE - looks like an even fight
+1 and +2 YELLOW - looks like quite a gamble
+3 and up RED - what would you like your tombstone to say?

Character Levels 7 - 8

-4 and below GREEN - looks like a reasonably safe opponent.
-1 to -3 BLUE - looks kind of risky, but you might win.
0, WHITE - looks kind of risky..you might win.
+1 and +2 YELLOW - looks like quite a gamble.
+3 and up RED - what would you like your tombstone to say?

Character Levels 9 - 12

-6 and below GREEN - looks like a reasonably safe opponent.
-4 and -5 GREEN - looks like you would have the upper hand.
-1 to -3 BLUE - looks kind of risky, but you might win.
0, WHITE - looks kind of risky..you might win.
+1 and +2 YELLOW - looks like quite a gamble.
+3 and up RED - what would you like your tombstone to say?

Character Levels 13 - 14

-7 and below GREEN - looks like a reasonably safe opponent.
-6 GREEN - looks like you would have the upper hand.
-4 and -5 BLUE - looks like you would have the upper hand.
-1 to -3 BLUE - looks kind of risky, but you might win.
0, WHITE - looks kind of risky..you might win.
+1 and +2 YELLOW - looks like quite a gamble.
+3 and up RED - what would you like your tombstone to say?

Character Levels 15 - 24

-8 or less, GREEN - looks like a reasonably safe opponent.
-6 and -7, GREEN - You would probably win this fight..it's not certain though.
-3 to -5, BLUE - looks quite risky, but might be worth a try.
-1 and -2 - BLUE - looks kind of dangerous.
0, WHITE - appears to be quite formidable.
+1 and +2, YELLOW - looks like quite a gamble.
+3 or more, RED - what would you like your tombstone to say?

Character Levels 25 - 32

-11 or more, GREEN- You could probably win this fight.
-10, GREEN - This creature could pose problems, you would probably defeat it.
-8 and -9, GREEN - You would probably win this fight..it's not certain though.
-1 to -7, BLUE - appears to be quite formidable.
0, WHITE - looks like quite a gamble.
+1 and +2, YELLOW - looks like it would wipe the floor with you!
+3 or more, RED - what would you like your tombstone to say?

Character Levels 33 - 40

-11 or more, GREEN - you could probably win this fight.
-10, GREEN - You would probably win this fight..it's not certain though.
-1 to -9, BLUE - appears to be quite formidable.
0, WHITE - looks like quite a gamble.
+1 and +2, YELLOW - looks like it would wipe the floor with you!
+3 or more, RED - what would you like your tombstone to say?

Character levels 41 - 44?

-12 or more, GREEN - you could probably win this fight.
-1 to -11, BLUE - appears to be quite formidable.
0, WHITE - looks like quite a gamble.
+1 and +2, YELLOW - looks like it would wipe the floor with you!
+3 or more, RED - what would you like your tombstone to say?

Character levels 45 - 48

-13 or more, GREEN - you could probably win this fight.
-1 to -12, BLUE - appears to be quite formidable.
0, WHITE - looks like quite a gamble.
+1 and +2, YELLOW - looks like it would wipe the floor with you!
+3 or more, RED - what would you like your tombstone to say?

Character Level 49 - 50

-14 or more, GREEN - you could probably win this fight.
-1 to -13,BLUE - appears to be quite formidable.
0, WHITE - looks like quite a gamble.
+1 and +2, YELLOW - looks like it would wipe the floor with you!
+3 or more, RED - what would you like your tombstone to say?

Character Level 60

-21 or more, LIGHT GREEN - you could probably win this fight.
-16 to -20, DARK GREEN - you would probably win this fight..it's not certain though.
-1 to -15, BLUE - appears to be quite formidable.
0, WHITE - looks like quite a gamble.
+1 and +2, YELLOW - looks like it would wipe the floor with you!
+3 or more, RED - what would you like your tombstone to say?

Hitpoint Calculation

Level 60 STA to HP Conversions

CLASS

Hitpoint returns

WAR

1 STA = 6 HP

SHD / PAL

1 STA = 5.2 HP

RNG

1 STA = 4.2 HP

BRD / MNK / ROG

1 STA = 4 HP

CLR / DRU / SHM

1 STA = 3 HP

ENC / MAG / NEC / WIZ

1 STA = 2.4 HP

NOTE: Conversions scale up with level, this chart only shows level 60.

Weapon Proc Rates

Proc rates are computed on a procs per minute basis. I believe this is the same number for the vast majority of weapons, but some weapons have a higher adjusted procs per minute rate, and some such (with big procs) are adjusted downwards. The game translates the weapons targeted procs per minute and applies it to your weapon. If you are swinging 100 times a minute with your main hand, and the targeted procs per minute is 5, then the game essentially makes this computation:

5 procs divided by 100 swings = chance to proc per swing

5 / 100 = 0.05 or 1 in twenty chance.

Now if your haste wears off, and you're only swinging 50 times per minute, the game actually will up your chance to proc per swing

5 / 50 = 0.10 or 1 in 10 chance to proc per swing

This is confusing to some people but it's definitely true.

The rough formula is (DEX/170) + 0.5 = proc per minute rate for main hand, and offhand is half that rate.

Weapon autoattack will (ignoring other factors like str) hit for up to (dmg * 2) where dmg is the weapon's stated damage, but this value is subject to a level based cap. Originally all classes were subject to the same limits:

The dmg*2 formula for autoattack is true until lvl 28 where you get 1 bonus damage every 3 levels to your main hand attack. So at level 50 you get 8 extra bonus damage:

main hand = (dmg*2)+8

off hand = dmg*2

That's why a fast weapon can perform as good as a slower weapon with better ratio. For example, a dragon spined claw (10/21) only outdamages a revultant whip (5/14) by about 10% or maybe a bit more (that's my personal parse). For off hand, you need the best possible ratio (no damage bonus).

Role of STR

As for str, you will notice more effects at later level. It does increase my max damage when I go from 180 (unbuffed) to about 250 (shaman buff). In the end, my main hand 10/21 has a max damage of about 45, so from the formula:

(2*10)+8 = 28

I have an extra 17 damage, I would think that it is all coming from str bonus at my level? Not sure.

The other effect of str is that it raises your ATK (about 1 ATK for 1 str) and the more ATK you have, the more likely you will get high hits.

Role of STR on other emulated servers

The source code for EQ Emulator calculates max damage based on Weapon Damage, STR, Weapon Skill, Class, and Player Level. This algorithm may have been changed on P99, but here it is for reference:

So at low levels, [Max Damage] is always twice the listed weapon damage. In the example above, a level 50 melee character using a 10 damage weapon, with 200 weapon skill and 250 strength, max damage would be calculated as:

[Mod] = (200 + 250 - 75) / 100 = 3.75

[Main Hand Bonus] = (50 - 25) / 3 = 8

[Max Damage] = (3.75 x 10) + 8 = 45

Note that increased damage from strength is applied to both main hand and off hand weapons, and is a multiplier. The level based [Main Hand Bonus] is a flat number that is only added to the main hand weapon and is not affected by strength.

The value of "MaxSkill" may be ~400 (unconfirmed). That would mean at 200 double attack skill half of your hits would trigger a double attack.

For triple attacks, the same check is done using half your double attack skill level.

For a monk, your chance to dual wield is based off this formula: (your level + your dual wield skill) / 400. So at level 60 with 252 dual wield, you'd have a 78% chance to dual wield. For other classes the formula may be slightly different (e.g. / 500 instead of / 400).

Descriptive Statistics and the EQ Magic System

My Purpose (by Nenelar Valandur, High Elf Elementalist, E’ci, Nov 2000 (ref)): I’ve read many comparisons of spells on many website and many online forums. Almost exclusively the power of spells is compared based on the maximum damage they can deliver and the efficiency of mana put into those spells is compared by the ratio: Point of damage per point of mana.

These are valid measures for comparison. However, they tell a very limited story in terms of the true power and efficiency of the classes. My purpose is to offer a more complete view of casting power using different statistics than what I’ve seen proposed previously. But first let me start with what seems to be a reasonable argument using the old statistics:

What We Think We Know

Facts:

The level 60 wizard spell “Sunstrike” costs 450 and does 1615 maximum damage. That’s a ratio of 450:1615 or 1:3.59.

At level 60, the wizard is roughly 10% more mana efficient than the magician and does roughly 60% more damage.

Note: Many of you don’t care about the numbers. It’s OK to prefer to play the game without knowing the numbers behind it. You don’t have to read further than this. Go play…have fun! I find this type of research into the game fun. That’s why I do it. I also like to know as much as I can about my class. If you’re like me, read on. If not, I cannot be held responsible for the increased awareness you may obtain by reading further! This isn’t a rant about anything!

Quick Reference Glossary:

Some basic knowledge of terminology is assumed below. You’ll need to understand the following concepts:

Tick - the basic unit of time in EQ equal to 6 seconds of real time.

Casting time - the time it takes to channel mana into the spell. This is represented by the purple channeling bar that appears when you click a spell.

Recovery time - the time it takes you as a caster to “recover” from the task of channeling. This is represented by the grayed out spell gems after casting.

Recast time - certain spells have an additional time to “reset.” Only that spell gem will remain grayed out, after all others have become available.

DD - Direct Damage. A spell that does all its damage in a single blast is called a DD spell.

DOT - Damage Over Time. A spell that does a certain amount of damage every tick throughout its duration is called a DOT spell.

The Descriptive Statistics

Mana to Damage Multiplier (MDM)

The power of a class to convert mana into damage is different for each spell and generally increases with player level. MDM is the multiplier (a constant) that solves the equation: ManaCost * MDM = MaximumSpellDamage for a given spell. Or, restated: MDM = MaximumSpellDamage / ManaCost. Low level spells usually have a MDM of less than 1 since they cost more mana than they do in damage, whereas high level spells are always above 1. This is not really different than the ratio expressed the old way. Its value will not become apparent until a later analysis is published.

In this example, the Wizard spell is indeed roughly 10% more mana efficient than the Magician spell.

Damage Per Tick (DPT)

The power of a class to deliver damage within a given period of time also changes as players grow in experience. This measure is important as it scales the speed with which a caster can deliver damage. Most DD spells have a recovery time of 2.5 seconds (time before any spell may be cast) and some spells have a recast waiting period. By adding the time to cast the spell and the greater of the time to recover or time to recast, a total time invested for a spell can be obtained. This number should be used for comparison’s sake only since DD spells do not actually deliver damage per tick. This statistic will be used later to compare spells, for now I simply describe it here. Its value will not become apparent until a later analysis is published.

Example:

Seeking Flame of Seukor (Magician, 59) has a casting time of 7 seconds and a recover of 2.5 seconds. Total time invested in casting this spell is therefore 9.5 seconds. The spell does 1024 max damage in a single instant of time during that 9.5 seconds. (7 seconds of channeling, bang! 1024 damage, 2.5 seconds of recovery) 9.5 seconds is 1.58 ticks. 1024 damage / 1.58 ticks = 647 damage per tick.

Sunstrike (Wizard, 60) has a casting time of 7 seconds and a recover of 2.5 seconds. Total time invested in casting this spell is therefore also 9.5 seconds. 1615 damage / 1.58 ticks = 1020 damage per tick

In this example, the Wizard spell delivers 57.6% more damage per tick than the Magician (while both have mana to cast).

Full Mana Damage (FMD)

The power of a casting class to deliver damage is further defined by the total mana available to that caster. All things being equal, more mana means more damage. While DPT measures the speed with which damage is delivered, FMD seeks to quantify the total damage a caster could do with a full bar of mana. For any given spell, this calculation is: FMD = (TotalManaAvailable / SpellManaCost) * SpellMaxDamage.

The first part of this calculation requires that the quantity of mana when full be known. This is unfortunately, one of the mysteries of EQ. I am using the approximate formula: ((Intelligence / 5) + 2) * LevelofCaster to estimate the mana available to a caster. While this formula is likely not the exact formula used in the game, it is a close approximate. Further, since this analysis uses the same formula for all classes compared, it does not bias any class. (Note: The druid is a priest class and uses Wisdom instead of Intelligence for mana, but the formula is the same). For the purposes of this analysis, a constant number of 200 for Intelligence or Wisdom is used. Therefore, total mana available is: (200/5) + 2 * Level = 42 * Level.

Example:

A level 1 caster would have 42 mana. A level 60 caster would have 60 * 42 = 2520 mana.

In this example, the Wizard does 1,114 more damage with full mana than the Magician at level 60 (when both have equal mana available to cast).

Full Mana Ticks (FMT)

In the above example, the total damage capacity with full mana was calculated. However, the ability of a casting class to deliver this damage is dependent on the time each spell cast requires. The sum of all the casting time required to “chain cast” a full bar of mana can be expressed in ticks to compare the time efficiency of casting classes. The formula looks like this: FMT = (TotalManaAvailable / SpellManaCost) * SpellTimeInvestment. Recall from the DPT example, that there are three components to consider in SpellTimeInvestment: Casting time, recovery time and recast time. Most spells have only a recovery time. For such spells, casting time and recovery time can be added together to calculate the total time invested in a single cast of that spell. However, if a spell has a recast time greater than the recovery time, that time is added to casting time instead of the recovery time.

Example:

The spell Suntrike requires 7 seconds to channel and 2.5 seconds of recovery. The time to burn a full bar of mana on this spell at level 60 is therefore: (2520 / 450) * 9.5 = 53 seconds = 8.83 ticks.

The spell Seeking Flame of Seukor also requires 7 seconds to channel and 2.5 seconds of recovery. The time to burn a full bar of mana on this spell at level 60 is therefore: (2520 / 350) * 9.5 = 74 = 12.33 ticks.

In this example, the wizard not only does more damage, the wizard does it 3.5 ticks (21 seconds faster)!

What We Thought We Knew:

At level 60, the wizard is roughly 10% more mana efficient and does roughly 60% more damage than a level 60 magician.

What We Now Know:

At level 60, a wizard is roughly 10% more mana efficient, 39% more time efficient, delivers about 14% more damage per bar of mana, and delivers 57% more damage in the same amount of time as a level 60 magician.

Note: We haven’t accounted for the magician’s pet, the wizard’s pet, or the wizard’s inherently lower resists. Those will all be discussed later.

Conclusion

The current statistics used to describe and compare spells tell only a partial story. Like most partial truths, these statistics lead us to make seemingly logical conclusions that are in fact incomplete at best, or at worst totally false. The new statistics above make enable better comparisons within the magic system of EQ.

The formula for the amount of total (cumulative) experience at the end of a level is as follows. Note this is not the same as the experience needed to complete each level:

Total XP to complete a level = L^3 * C * R * H

Where:

C = Class Multiplier

R = Race Multiplier

H = Hell Multiplier (based on level)

Level

Multipler

1-29

1.0

30-34

1.1

35-39

1.2

40-44

1.3

45-50

1.4

51

1.5

52

1.6

53

1.7

54

1.9*

55

2.0

56

2.1

57

2.2

58

2.3

59

2.5*

60

2.6

* - Double "hell" level

For instance, for a class mod of 100 and race mod of 10 (base values), the following table applies:

Level

Class Mod

Race Mod

Level/Hell Mod

Total XP at end of level

Total XP needed to complete level

50

100

10

1.4

175,000,000

10,291,400

51

100

10

1.5

198,976,500

23,976,500

52

100

10

1.6

224,972,800

25,996,300

53

100

10

1.7

253,090,900

28,118,100

54

100

10

1.9

299,181,600

46,090,700

55

100

10

2

332,750,000

33,568,400

56

100

10

2.1

368,793,600

36,043,600

57

100

10

2.2

407,424,600

38,631,000

58

100

10

2.3

448,757,600

41,333,000

59

100

10

2.5

513,447,500

64,689,900

60

100

10

2.6

561,600,000

48,152,500

The formula for the amount of XP earned for soloing a dark blue or higher mob is as follows:

XP = L^2 * C

Where:

L = Level of mob being soloed. (If the mob is light blue or green, the xp earned will be 50%, 25% or 0% of the stated value.)

C = The Zone Experience Modifier (ZEM) with base 75. In most outdoor zones it is 75, in most dungeons it is 80, in some newbie zones it is 100.

Note: As of July 2013, there is now a maximum XP gained from a single mob of 11%.

Hell levels

In pre-2002 EverQuest, the Hell Levels are:

30

35

40

45

51

52

53

54 double hell

55

56

57

58

59 double hell

Changes to formula (2002 XP smoothing)

In Luclin era, the Hell Levels were "evened out":

September 4, 2002 3:00 am
** Experience Changes **
- We have smoothed out level progression from 50-60. This should
mitigate the "penalty effect" that occurs in levels 51, 54 and 59. Note
that it will cost the same experience to level from 50 to 60 as it did
before. Also, death experience loss will appear different in some
levels. This is an unfortunate side effect that must remain to prevent
some experience exploits.

How Experience Works

First, I'll describe a sample party and use a tasty pie analogy to help make the mechanics easier to understand. Then, I'll get more number and formula based for those who want the nuts and bolts. (coming soon... when I feel like updating)

Think of each mob that gets spawned in EQ as a pie, a very tasty pie. When a PC kills a mob, he gets to eat the pie. When players group together and kill a mob, they have to split the pie. However, through the magic of the group bonus, for each person in the group beyond the first, the pie gets a little bit bigger (2% bigger in fact) before we pull out the knife to divide the slices.

Well, how do we slice the pie? How big will each slice be?

The answer is that we measure all the pie that each player has ever eaten (his total xp). Then we cut the slices in proportions matching those relative values. So, let's say our sample group is a simple trio of Bob the Bard, Chris the Enchanter, and Diane the Druid. Since Bob came into the world of Norrath, he's eaten 150lbs of pie. Chris has had 100lbs of pie, and Diane has also eaten 100lbs of pie. Our sample group has just killed a mob. This mobs' representative pie magically grows to be 4% larger than if a solo player killed him. Then the pie is split with 3/7 of it going to Bob, 2/7 to Chris and 2/7 to Diane. The classes of these characters makes no difference at all. The only thing that determined how big each slice of the pie would be was the net total xp that each of them had earned since character creation.

But what about xp penalties, you say?

They most certainly exist. The penalties change the amount of pie that a PC has to eat to gain each level. Human warriors have to eat 90% of the pie that Human Druids have to eat to level up. Troll Shadow Knights have to eat 68% more pie than Human Druids to level up.

The important and painfully obvious consequence of this is:

A level 30 Human Monk has 20% more total xp than a level 30 human cleric.

A level 50 Ogre Shadowknight has 60% more total xp than a level 50 dwarf cleric.

Or to look at it a different way...

A human monk with 10,000,000xp is level 20.

A halfling warrior with 10,000,000xp is level 22

A troll shadowknight with 10,000,000xp is level 18

If the three characters above where to group together, they would all get equal slices of the pie.

But, But, you didn't say anything about the penalties when you talked about how xp is split!!! why not?

When the tasty pie is cut into slices for the group, the levels of the various PCs are not consulted (not directly anyway), only the xp totals for the PCs. The game code doesn't care if Bob is a human or an elf, a bard or a monk, level 10 or level 15... the game code only cares what Bob's total xp is.

What about zone modifiers?

Zone modifiers shrink or expand the pie before the slices are cut.

What does this all mean?!?

Group with people who have similar xp totals to you

Group with people who have similar xp totals to you

Group with people who have similar xp totals to you

See, it was so important, I had to say it 3 times. Please note what that really means. Race/Class combos with no penalty but who are 6 levels higher than you nerf your xp more than the hybrid who is the same level as you in most cases, especially at levels below 30. In your teens, a player 6 levels higher than you has 300 to 400% of your xp total... obviously much worse than the 140-168% of your total that a equal level hybrid has.

So, final thought...

Group with good players. An equal level group with multiple hybrids generally takes no more than 16% more kills to gain a level that a similarly leveled group that has no hydrids. Good groups kill at least 16% faster than bad groups. So, group with good players regardless of class.

Vendor Pricing, Charisma, and Faction

As far as vendor prices are concerned, factions can be broken up into three categories.

Dubious or worse ~ If your faction with the merchant is dubious or worse, of course, the merchant simply won't sell to you (I have something here that %Rs use..let me see...it's the EXIT, now get LOST!).

Apprehensive ~ If you're at apprehensive, the merchant will sell to you, but is going to charge you an arm and a leg unless you can get your charisma WAY up there.

Indifferent or better ~ Lastly, any faction indifferent or better will get exactly the same prices for the same charisma. It doesn't matter if you're ally or sneaking and indifferent.

There are several crucial charisma numbers to shoot for.

1. Key to this is that, whether your faction is apprehensive or indifferent or better, there's a stretch from 62 to 76 that gives exactly the same prices. So, if you can get your charisma up to 62, don't bother getting any more charisma boosters until you can get enough to get you to 76. However, when you do get to 76, the prices will suddenly drop by about 6%, instead of the 0.5% boost you get for most individual points of charisma.

2. Better known is the "magic number" of charisma, 104. This is the point at which indifferent or better merchants will give you the best price they're ever going to give you. This price seems to be based on 1.05 times a "actual value" that you will never see used, but is only directly known by the server. For instance, many gem and metal prices are clearly based on this. And, if you notice the prices at which the vendor will buy such things back from you, although it looks like a very irregular number, for instance 95pp 2gp 3sp 8cp for a bar of platinum or a sapphire, that just happens to be 100pp divided by 1.05.

3. The last and highest number to shoot for is 132. This is the charisma at which you can normally get the cheapest prices even with apprehensive faction.

Greedy Merchants pay the least for your loot and charge the most sell you stuff. When you are trying to build up some funds it's good to know who to avoid.

Merchant Ueaas—Kelethin

Aimie Moonspin—North Freeport

Naresa Sparkle—West Commonlands

Boomba the Big—West Freeport

Ping Fuzzlecutter—West Freeport

Tubal Weaver—North Qeynos

Everyone—The Overthere

The Pricing Roller Coaster

When many players have been buying from or selling to a merchant, he seems to get it into his head that "Hey, I'm so popular, I can charge better prices now!". Unfortunately, "better" in this context means "better for the vendor". I'm still carrying out research on this issue, but merchants that will normally give best prices at 104 charisma and indifferent faction can go at least as high as needing 134 charisma to get best prices, even with ally faction.

It seems that, with less charisma than that needed for best prices, a set amount is added to the price you would normally get, i.e. whether your charisma is 120 or 50, a vendor might add 3sp to the price you would pay from a vendor who hasn't been getting so much action. The actual amount can vary widely. This is particularly noticeable on merchants in very busy areas, for instance vendors located in or right at the entrance to newbie areas, or those in banks. In these cases, it's almost impossible to distinguish a "greedy" merchant from a merely "opportunistic" merchant.

For most merchants, you need indifferent faction and 104 charisma. This is to say that 1) at any given charisma, a merchant will give you the same price at indifferent, amiable, kind or warm faction (but worse at apprehensive), and 2) if your faction is at least indifferent, you will stop getting better prices beyond 104 charisma.

Now I said most merchants up there. The first statement is always true, but I've observed two exceptions to the second. First, the merchants in your guild in your hometown only require 93 charisma. Second, there are a handful of merchants who require MUCH higher than 104 charisma. These are usually the merchants near banks and at entrances to cities. Examples are: Tubal at the Qeynos gate, Boomba the Big at the WFP gate, Aimee at the NFP bank, Merchant U-something (the dufrenite merchant) outside the Kelethin bank. Don't buy or sell from them if you can avoid it. At 170+ charisma and indifferent-to-warm faction, I still can't get them to give me best prices.

Q: How can I tell if a merchant is buying or selling an item at its best price?

Check how much the merchant offers you for a peridot (Everyone carries a stack of peridots for their clerics and chanters right?). If you're offered 9.524pp for it, you've succeeded. You won't be able to buy for less or sell for more. If you're offered less than 9.524pp, you can do better with higher charisma. Now it doesn't have to be a peridot. Any item will do as long as you know its best price. I happen to know what the best price is for a peridot.

-- Balidil Anla'shok (EQTraders) and Khazim (Quellious)

Full server respawn

A full server respawn or earthquake causes all mobs, including raid targets, to respawn. It is manually triggered by a staff member such as Rogean or Nilbog.

"Earthquakes" are designed to simulate the classic experience of EverQuest servers being taken down temporarily for maintenance, which resulted in fresh mobs when the server came back up.

As of 11/18/18:
0-3 Simulated Respawns will occur each month; 1-3 being the normal amount,
and 0 existing as a possibility if Rogean or Nilbog cannot do them at all.